DeathTrap
by ernestjaye
Summary: Post ROTJ AU featuring OCs. 3 months after the destruction of the second Death Star, a large group of Rebels attack the galaxy's last major Imperial instalment on a remote planet. This is my first fanfic ever. Rated M for some violence in later chapters.
1. Chapter I

_Ah, my first ever fanfic. The following story starts approximately 3 months after the end of ROTJ. I'm not really too knowledgeable in EU stuff, so I'm disregarding a lot of it for this fic. Also note that this story will probably deviate radically from the accepted Star Wars cannon, so I am classifying it as AU._

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**DeathTrap**

**Chapter I**

The Empire had been defeated. That was the news that spread throughout the galaxy like wildfire when the second Death Star exploded, taking the Emperor with it. This now commonly accepted knowledge had brought new hope and courage to the oppressed and downtrodden citizens of all known, inhabited worlds; all across the galaxy, people began to band together and drive the remaining Imperial presence out of their cities and countries, and ultimately, out of existence altogether. They began to re-establish their own governments, by the people, for the people. There was now a chance to revive democracy and trade in the galaxy, renew old alliances, catch up with old friends long gone, and to finally undo the damage that had been done by the Galactic Empire. The galaxy had been reborn.

The Empire had been defeated. Such powerful and freeing words. But were they true? For the past three months, the Rebel Alliance had been watching closely for any signs of Imperial sympathisers who might try to keep the Empire alive in the underground. They had also been on the lookout for any leftover, undestroyed bases and troops...

...which had led the Alliance here: Pallidus, a rather isolated, harsh-weathered planet on the outskirts of the galaxy. Reports which had built up over the last few weeks indicated that there was a strong Imperial presence on the planet; in the midst of the vast galactic war, the planet had previously gone unnoticed by anyone... but now that the enemy had been for the most part defeated, the largest remaining Imperial establishment in the galaxy was certainly drawing attention. Several dozen Imperial factories sprawled across the dark, pale-blue globe's vast surface, continuously churning out TIE fighters, Imperial walkers and various other tools of destruction. Whether or not there were any natives on the planet when the Imperials arrived was unknown, but there certainly didn't appear to be any now. In addition to the numerous factories, there appeared to be many large mysterious buildings and other structures with purposes which were unknown to the Rebels. Many Rebel officials speculated that yet another Imperial superweapon was in the works on Pallidus, a theory which struck fear into the hearts of most who heard it... fear of once again being forced to return to an oppressed state; of having to return to an existence consisting solely of perpetual conflict. It was clear to all that immediate action had to be taken before it was too late...

...which had led Mattai here. He peered out over the front of his craft as it crawled through the darkness and the mist. Rain fell in sheets all around him, somewhat obscuring his view. Nonetheless, he could still see the dozens of other Rebel starfighters spread out all around him. This was the largest single Rebel attack force ever assembled. It made the Rebel numbers in the battle of Endor look like nothing. The Rebels had recruited numerous pilots and ships allied with their cause from all across the newly liberated galaxy, and now a cornucopia of various starfighters, transports and other craft flew swiftly along the dark, stormy beaches of Pallidus. The lights from various shapes and sizes of engines glowed softly all around Mattai, a sea of flame. He shifted his Y-Wing's flight path slightly to the left, so as not to come too close to the beat-up freighter which was floating gently meters to his right.

"Blue seven, standing by," Mattai uttered in a rather routine fashion at the call of his squad leader for all wings to report in. As one-by-one the spacecrafts all called into their respective leaders, they began to break up and head for their separate targets.

As Mattai swung his craft east, he thought back to his mission briefing. It had been short, but intense. Mattai was part of the bomber group which was to be responsible for knocking out one of the Imperial's mystery constructions, what appeared to be an oversized generator. There were, in total,thirty-two such structures all over Pallidus, and honestly, the Rebel forces were not entirely sure what their purpose was. It was theorised that they were actually power stations responsible for fuelling the planet's assembly lines. Although having so many gargantuan generators (each was aboutfive times the size of a "standard" base generator) spread across the planet seemed like overkill, it was the only plausible explanation the strategists could come up with. Besides, if it was true that the Imperials were constructing another megaweapon of some sort, it seemed somewhat logical that they would require an intense source of energy such as the kind which could be provided bythirty-two giant power stations. In desperation, it was decided that as a preventative measure thethirty-two structures should be eliminated, no matter their function.

Mattai was snapped back into reality by the realisation that he was about to enter combat. Up ahead, through the rain, and the mist, and the darkness of the storm, he could vaguely make out the searchlights of an Imperial instalment, and although he dismissed it as his imagination, as he sat in his cramped Y-Wing, nervously tapping his fingers on the ship's control stick, he was almost certain that he could hear the far-off screech of TIE fighters...

Static flickered through his earphones as Blue leader gave last minute instructions to his flyers.

"...to reiterate, escorts, stay with your bombers! If we lose our bombers, we can't complete this mission!"

Mattai glanced to his right. The beat-up freighter had replaced itself with an X-Wing. The pilot in the other craft raised their hand and waved. Matt raised his hand and did likewise.

Static flickered through his headset again as the pilot opened a private channel to him. A soft voice met his ears.

"Hey, I'm Khloe. I'll be flying alongside you throughout this mission."

He could detect a smile in her voice.

"Pleased to meet you Khloe. I'm Mattai... nervous?"

"I would be lying to say I wasn't."

"Same. Well, best of luck, and may the Force be with you."

Khloe let out a nervous laugh, returned the same familiar saying, and then closed the private channel. Even though there was very little connection between the Rebels and the Jedi Knights of old, that phrase, thanks mainly to Luke Skywalker's influence, had become an Alliance slogan of sorts.

A flash of light zipped past Matt's viewport, grabbing his attention. A series of blocky shapes up ahead were quickly become distinguishable; AT-STs dotted the sandy terrain the Rebels were soaring towards.

Several X-Wings ahead of Mattai descended swiftly, focusing their fire on the three nearest walkers. One of them exploded almost instantaneously. The other two were slower to be destroyed, and before they went, they managed to shoot down one of the Incom fighters; the first Rebel casualty of the fight, but what would most likely prove not to be the last.

Mattai steered his craft skyward in an attempt to escape any possible fire from the ground. Khloe, who was in the middle of blasting an AT-ST's legs out from under it, swung the nose of her craft swiftly upwards in pursuit of her Y-Wing.

Levelling out his craft at an altitude safe from any AT-STs, Mattai kicked his Y-Wing into full-throttle. He felt a slight jump as his craft lurched forward at an increased rate of speed. Khloe slid her craft into a gentle flight just off his left wing.

Matt activated his targeting computer, then marked and locked in the generator. It would be another solid two minutes at the very least before they reached the generator structure, so he sat back in his craft a little, trying to relax and prepare himself mentally for the almost certain horde of TIE fighters that awaited them up ahead.

Before too long, Matt had lost track of time. When he looked out of his cockpit now, the number of ships around him had thinned significantly. To his left was Khloe, and in the distance what looked like a B-Wing, S-foils open, flying low to the ground, probably looking for Imperials. To his right another Y-Wing flew silently, its complimentary X-Wing missing; maybe it was the one that was shot down earlier? The ships surrounding him now were a far cry from the at least twenty craft that he knew were a part of his squad. He wondered where they all went, then decided that they all must've broken off and headed for separate targets.

A solid hit from a laser blast to his ship's right engine jarred Mattai out of his contemplative state. The entire Y-Wing shuddered thoroughly from the impact for a few moments, and for a brief second Matt felt as though the entire craft were going to fall apart around him. His eyes darted forward. Through his blurred forward windshield he could barely make out several grey shapes darting around in the distant sky. In addition, the scream of TIE fighters was now undeniable, growing louder and louder by the second.

Khloe spoke up.

"Are you alright? That was a pretty hard hit."

"Yeah, I think so. They did a little damage to my engine, but I'm alright."

"Okay, sit tight... this is going to get a little rough..."

Mattai was now thoroughly scared. He had flown Rebel starfighters in combat situations before (X-Wings and A-Wings) and had once even piloted a TIE fighter captured by the Rebels. Nonetheless, he had never been quite this terrified in a flight situation before. Visibility was terrible, and he was certain that the number of TIEs up ahead was going to be staggering. In addition, he was uncomfortable with being in the seat of a Y-Wing. He had never flown one before, and even though the craft had shielding superior to that of the X-Wing, he somehow felt that the subsequent loss of speed wasn't worth it. He knew that if he got a few good Imperial pilots on his tail, his sloth-like craft wouldn't be able to shake them.

Matt sat up in his seat. As the grey shapes in the distance grew, the distinctive sound of TIE fighters became ever louder, until the sound surrounded him completely, permeating everything. There were twelve of them spread out across the horizon, all flying at break-neck speed towards the Rebels. A formation of four of the crafts veered rightwards in their flight, aiming themselves at the low-flying B-Wing. In doing this, they revealed themselves to not be normal TIEs... their distinctive wing shape sent shivers down Mattai's spine; they were TIE interceptors.

In seconds, the squad of Imperial craft was on top of the B-Wing. There was a brief moment of intense sound and light, and then the Rebel fighter spouted a solid stream of smoke and flame from its right wing. It careened steadily downwards, finally colliding with a large boulder in a brilliant orange fireball.

Mattai had to focus all of his attention on his target as it grew nearer in his targeting computer, just to keep himself from yelling out in fear. As several TIEs swarmed around him, he tried to think solely of his target, which was now only thirty seconds or so away. Brilliant streams of green 'whished' past his craft as a single determined TIE aimed itself right for Mattai's cockpit. He closed his eyes as hard as he could, then suddenly remembered that his Y-Wing, although slow and bulky, was not unarmed. He jammed his fingers down on the blaster triggers, and instantly a river of reddish-orange bolts spewed out of the front of his craft and connected with the TIE's cockpit. It exploded instantly, firing its two razor-like wings outward from its body.

Mattai again returned his concentration to his target, preparing to drop his payload of bombs. Little else registered in Matt's mind as the yellow wireframe image got larger and larger in his display. The rain hammered down on his craft, bouncing off its hull with little metallic pings. He didn't notice. The sound of a deep, drawn out air-raid siren filled his ears. He didn't notice. An Imperial spotlight hit the bottom of his craft, filling its cockpit with an eerie white glow. He didn't notice. The single Y-Wing to Matt's right, unable to take the punishment from the TIEs swarming it, blew into a million shards and fragments, some of which rained down upon Mattai's cockpit. He didn't notice. All he could think about was hitting his target. He didn't even notice when Khloe, after having eliminated several more interceptors and thus the immediate enemy fighter threat, pulled her X-Wing right up beside his ship and said something over the radio to the effect of "let's be quick about this".

When his targeting computer finally showed that he was on top of his destination, Matt hit the release button, sending a slew of glowing white bombs raining down onto the Imperial structure. They connected with their target in a brilliant explosion of yellow-white light. The sound of destruction filled the air as a mushroom cloud emerged from the generator device. Debris was launched high into the sky as the supposed power station experienced its death.

"Good shot Mattai!" Khloe exclaimed through the radio. Matt pressed a button near his right hand, switching off his targeting computer. He banked his craft to the right, turning around and heading in the direction from which he came.

"Well," he said through his tenuous, static-filled radio connection to Khloe, "I guess that's it..."

"Yeah, our part in this mission is done," she replied sounding somewhat relieved. "Let's get back to safety."

Although he knew she probably couldn't see it, Mattai nodded heartily in agreement as he sat back in his seat and sighed deeply.

Suddenly, the entire sky flashed a bright blue. Matt was briefly blinded by this display. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

"What the hell was that?"

As the intense light slowly dissolved into darkness, thin blue bolts of electricity became visible, racing their way in and out of clouds all across the thick, rainy sky. It was at this moment that, in Matt's mind, it also registered that far below him the earth was shaking violently. A tumultuous rumbling sound consumed the air, and in the distance he could see the wet, blurred ground shaking back and forth.

Mattai looked over at Khloe's X-Wing with concern on his face.

"What's going on?..."

"I don't know, but we'd better get back to our transport and find out!"

Matt once again nodded at her as he turned his gaze to the sky before him. Numerous strands of electric energy were still meandering their way across the heavens. Matt tried his very hardest to repress the queasy feeling that had risen in the pit of his stomach, but he knew that something serious had just taken place. As the vibrations in the terrain below him slowly faded away, he suddenly felt very stupid about allowing himself and the others to destroy those Imperial "generators" without any real knowledge of their purpose...

He had a bad feeling about this.

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_Well, there it is. I've already started on chapter 2, but it needs some work before I'm ready to post it. As I said before, this is my first fanfic ever. C+C would be greatly appreciated. :)_


	2. Chapter II

_Wow, sorry for the huge gap between posting the first and second chapters. I got caught up with miscellaneous things, and my interest in this fic waned for a bit... but it's back now. XD... I had started writing an original version of chapter 2, but I decided that I didn't like it, so I scrapped it and wrote this. Anyway, as always, C+C is welcome._

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**DeathTrap**

**Chapter II**

_"Help! Someone, please, help us!"_

_The sounds of screaming and pleading filled the air all around Mattai as the heat inside his cell grew. He pulled with all his might on the bars, but they simply wouldn't give. The fire spread down the hall outside Matt's cell, before finally reaching Matt himself. He backed up slowly, until finally his shoulders met cold, hard stone. As the fire filled the room, Matt realised he was completely trapped; there was no escape. This was the end..._

"C'mon, get up! We're gonna' be late!"

Mattai sat straight up in bed, now wide-awake. He had heard a voice... no, not the screaming; something else... glancing over to the doorway of his chambers, he saw Khloe, the origin of the sound.

"Late? What time is it?"

Matt's view shifted to the tiny clock sitting on the table beside his bed. As Khloe had predicted, the clock showed that they had but four minutes until their flight group was due to start its mission.

"Aw, damnit, we're gonna' be late..."

Jumping out of bed, Matt stumbled over to his case of clothes, grabbed the first pair of pants that caught his eye, and swiftly pulled them on. Khloe simply stood in the doorway shaking her head.

"How could you sleep in?" she asked. "Didn't you set your alarm?"

Matt shrugged as he hunted for footwear.

"I t-thought I did... Aha!"

Matt picked up his brown shoes from under a nearby chair and sat down in it.

"Well, are you ready to go now?"

Apparently not feeling the need for socks, Matt slipped on his newly found shoes as fast as he could, then rushed to the door.

"Yeah, let's go."

As the last remnants of the nightmare Mattai had been suffering slipped from his head, the duo raced to the hangar bay to prepare for the day's flight.

**XXXXX**

Upon reaching the hangar bay, Khloe and Mattai found their flight group gathered around their lead pilot, receiving their mission briefing; their bright orange flightsuits contrasted almost painfully with the drab grey backdrop behind them.

The two quietly grabbed some flightsuits for themselves, then, while hastily pulling them on, gathered with the other pilots and listened intently to the words of Blue leader. After a few minutes, Matt began to grasp just what exactly their mission was: yesterday, a squad of X-Wings and Y-Wings which had been sent to destroy a giant radar-dish-like structure on the far side of the planet had been shot down and captured. It was decided that a rescue mission should be sent to try and recover the lost troops. Blue group had been assigned the task.

As final questions were asked of Blue leader, the group broke apart and headed for their vehicles; it had been decided that speeders would be best suited for this mission.

Mattai did up the few remaining zippers on his flightsuit before donning his helmet. He then climbed the worn, metallic stairway which lead to the gunner's seat in his assigned speeder. After sitting down in the compact space, Matt strapped himself to his seat and began to ready himself mentally for the day ahead. He ran a hand down the side of the harpoon gun in front of him, and then pivoted it left and right, getting a feel for the technique required to aim and fire the weapon.

The sound of someone sitting down in the pilot's seat behind him caught Matt's attention. He turned his head to try and catch a glimpse of the pilot, but the helmet he was wearing eliminated most of his peripheral vision. Matt was about to ask for the mystery individual's name, but his curiosity was satiated when Khloe's voice caught his ear.

"Hey, I guess we're flying together." There was a hint of a smile in her voice.

"You know how to fly these things?"

"Yeah, I know how to fly them... you know how to use that gun?"

"What, the harpoon gun? Sure."

Water cascaded onto the windows surrounding the pair as Blue group glided silently out of the hangar and into the rain. As the speeders ascended in a gentle arc, Mattai looked out the craft's rear window; at the vehicle's current angle, said window provided a perfect view of the outside world. In this instance, the outside world consisted of a pale, sandy terrain that stretched out underneath the Rebel transports for a few hundred metres before sloping steadily downwards into an angry, tumultuous sea. Dark waves crashed back and forth across the beach, a watery inferno which burned all it touched. In the sky, thick, colourless clouds rolled slowly across the horizon; every so often lightning would briefly pierce the atmosphere, bathing the drab scene in an eerie glow, as, all the while, the strands of blue energy which had appeared the night before played tag across the heavens.

Mattai stared at the sky, still in a state of disbelief about the previous evening's events. The blue energy bands which had appeared last night after the Rebel strike were still there, only now they seemed to be increasing in number and intensity.

"Good Lord, what have we done to this planet?"

"What was that?"

"Oh, I was just saying, that earthquake last night, and the lights, and the whole thing..." Matt trailed off.

Khloe's voice carried some of the same concern Mattai's did, but it also had a soothing tone about it.

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. I heard some pilots talking last night... command's got some Rebel scientists working to figure out what exactly happened, but they don't think it's anything serious."

Matt made a quiet "hmm" sound that seemed to signify acknowledgement of Khloe's statement, before returning his attention to the beautifully desolate scene surrounding them.

**XXXXX**

"Alright, we're on the final approach to our target now," Blue leader's voice crackled over the radio.

The speeders hummed quietly as they sailed in tight formation over densely packed forest.

"We're not quite sure what the purpose of this dish is, but our strategists theorise that it's a giant radio transmitter. Half the speeders will land on the east platform and break into the transmitter facility to retrieve our pilots, while the rest of the fighters will remain in the air to stand guard and eliminate any Imperial threats as they arise."

Matt listened intently, running the scenario Blue leader just gave them through his mind in an attempt to visualise the events of the next few minutes.

"We do know that there's an Imperial shuttle landed on the east platform as well; as soon as the downed pilots have been liberated, everyone will work their way back to the east platform, and the pilots will steal the shuttle for their escape. Once they have the shuttle in the air, our speeders will escort them back to base. Good luck, and may the force be with you."

As the voice in the radio disappeared, two sounds took new prominence in Mattai's mind: the sound of the speeder's engines as it flew along, and the sound of the torrential downpour outside the vehicle.

Matt turned his head towards Khloe.

"So, we're landing?"

Even though she knew he couldn't see it, Khloe nodded.

"Yep, we're landing. The detention block is three floors down from where we're entering the complex, so we'll have a bit of ground to cover before we find our pilots, but once we do, it shouldn't be all that difficult to retrace our steps back outside."

The speeders banked right in unison, aiming themselves at the grid of lights which was now materialising in the distance, beyond the wall of rain.

Matt looked down at the displays in front of him, the pale light from them lighting up his face with an eerie orange glow. His displays were minimal compared to Khloe's. They displayed simple data like the current altitude and speed of the fighter; there was also a screen which showed the approximate locations of enemy targets in relation to where Matt presently was. On said screen was a prominent shape, the form of a building, which was growing larger by the second. Even though Matt was nervous, he was somewhat relieved by the fact that there was no sign of Imperial craft. Perhaps the Imperials didn't know they were coming? Ah well, he was sure they'd find out soon enough...

The next few minutes were tense, but passed without much fanfare. As the speeder came within a few hundred feet of its target, Khloe slowed it down and angled it towards the east platform. The glow from large electric lamps on the east platform cast luminance onto the vehicles parked there. Khloe could make out a couple Y-Wings, presumably captured by the Imperials from the downed pilots. She could also make out the outline of an Imperial shuttle.

Khloe pulled back on the central control stick for the speeder, and brought it in for a gentle landing just beyond the Y-Wings. In moments, two other Rebel speeders did likewise, touching down silently on her left and right. The cockpits of the three craft slid open almost in unison, as Khloe and Mattai undid their restraints and hopped out of their seats.

Matt pulled out a blaster pistol; it was far from fancy, but he knew that if push came to shove, it might be the only thing that got him out of the complex alive. Khloe too pulled out a blaster pistol; it was slightly larger than Matt's, with a silvery finish which caused it to glint in the pale lamplight. The four other landed Blue group members pulled out weapons of their own. Then the six Rebels gathered together at the centre of the platform and began walking towards the entrance to the facility.

Intense yellow fluorescence spilled onto the group as they opened the east platform door and headed inside. Their boots squeaked on the smooth, finished floor as tiny raindrops rolled off their flightsuits.

With Khloe trying to keep track of their path so she could retrace it later, the group set out to find a turbolift. It took a few minutes of winding their way through a pseudo-maze of hallways, but they eventually found one. After they had all boarded it, the sliding doors closed, and the lift sank downwards into the dim light of the detention wing.

Upon reaching the appropriate floor, the group was met with a fork. Two paths diverged from the turbolift; both seemed to lead towards a cellblock, and both seemed to stretch out for a hopelessly long distance before ending in darkness.

Mattai turned to the other Alliance fighters.

"Maybe we should split up. I mean, wouldn't it be easier to find our pilots if we could search both these halls at once?"

Nods of agreement spread throughout the group.

"Alright, Khloe, you and I," Matt pointed towards a green-eyed pilot whose name he didn't know as he said 'you', "can take this corridor." Matt nodded to his left, indicating one pathway. "The rest of you can take the other path."

Without any objection, the group split into two trios and departed down their separate pathways. Khloe, Matt and the green-eyed man sped through the labyrinth of drab, grey cells, looking around frantically for any sign of their shot-down companions. The cells were for the most part empty, but every once in a while a set of eyes would appear in the darkness, peering out at them. They had been on the move for what felt like an eternity, and had almost reached the end of the block, when Khloe spotted a glint of neon orange out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she saw several Rebel pilots lying on the floor of a nearby cell, fast asleep.

"Look, there!"

Mattai picked a tiny stone up off the ground and tossed it at one of the pilots in a bid to awaken her. The stone sailed through the air and bounced off the woman's cheek back onto the cold floor. Her eyes slowly opened, and she turned her head to find the perpetrator of the impact.

"W-what..."

After a moment, the realisation of what was happening set in, and she sat straight upright. She then turned to her cellmates and spoke.

"Rav, Gold, Travis, wake up!"

The other pilots awoke from their slumbers, spotted their rescuers and darted to their feet, ready to leave. After a minute or so of struggling, the green-eyed man (who Mattai had learned was named Laertes) finally gave up trying to unlock the cell door in any traditional fashion, and "unlocked" it with his blaster pistol. The newly released pilots dashed out of their cell and ran in the direction of the turbolift, eager to get out of the building as fast as possible.

At the lift, all the Rebels met back up and returned to the first floor of the complex. Retracing their steps back to the east platform entrance, Mattai began to get an anxious feeling in the pit of his stomach. The whole mission had been far too easy: they had approached an Imperial base without seeing so much as a single TIE fighter; they had infiltrated the same Imperial base without coming across a single stormtrooper; they had retrieved their captured allies without any resistance, and now were about to leave that Imperial base without so much as a shot being fired (save for the one used to open the cell door). A profound feeling of uneasiness saturated the air in the halls, permeating everything and chilling Matt right to the core. Why would the Imperials seemingly abandon such a prominent building overnight?

When they finally reached the east platform door, Matt turned to one of the captured pilots.

"Where are all the Imperials?"

The pilot responded with a shrug.

"I have no clue... this place was buzzing with activity yesterday."

That statement sent chills up Matt's spine; something was amiss. Laertes turned to the rest of the group.

"It is kind of odd, really," he said, pressing his hand to the door pad, "you think they knew we were coming?"

As the thick door hissed open and the screech of TIE fighters filled the air, Laertes' question was answered. In the distance, through the rain, Matt could see several interceptors closing in on one of their airborne speeders. There was a brief flash of green light, followed by a brilliant red fireball, and then the speeder was gone; it had been replaced by a collection of flaming debris which rained down upon the forest below.

A dozen stormtroopers clad in white armour filed out from behind the nearby shuttle, raising their blasters, aiming to kill. An Imperial officer stepped out from the midst of them and leered at the Alliance pilots, walking slowly towards them. Rain soaked his dark grey uniform, and he held his dark grey cap in his hands, wringing the water out of it.

"Good evening," he spoke in a deep, malicious tone. "Going somewhere?"

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_Well, there it is, chapter 2. I'm not really a fan of this chapter, but then again, I may not be the best judge of my own work. Feel free to review this fic, I'd love to hear your input:D_


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